Netflix : Computer Hardware Buyers’ Glossary

Viewing on your desktop computer has the advantage of high resolution and high fidelity surround-sound earphones.

Viewing on your TV has the advantage of a big screen that you can share with others and comfortable seating.

I tried Netflix on a premium Internet connection and fairly fast desktop computer. The resolution was good, but the images were jerky, especially the dance numbers. Netflix delivers the feed in real time. This means they cannot buffer up the entire movie ahead of time and play it at full resolution without jerkiness. I think it has improved since then as the Internet as a whole has matured. For good results, you probably want to sign up for a premium high-speed Internet connection, preferably delivered via fibre optic.

What can you do if your TV is not Netflix ready?

• Play the movies on your computer and wire your computer’s sound to some loudspeakers. Hook up a long HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) video cable from your computer to your TV. You can then play anying from your computer on your TV, not just Netflix, e.g. YouTube.
• See if your TV cable company has a solution.

In the interests of making the products look easy, vendors of streaming video are cagey about explaining how the various pieces hook together or how it works. They don’t tell you about how clumsy the remote is or that it may not have one or you may also need an Android phone to provide the heart. To do this properly, streaming video functions should be integrated with the remote for the TIVO.

Shopping for Streaming Internet Boxes

Shomi, the Canadian version of NetFlix, is shutting down in 2016-11-30.